The intensive care unit (ICU) is, in many ways, the most significant section of a hospital, because it is where life-threatening issues occur almost daily. The ICU is the one area where most hospitals don't employ specialists—board-certified intensivists with expertise and training in critical care medicine.

A few hospital systems already are improving work process by implementing Lean and Six-Sigma management principles. Implementing Lean Sigma (a complementary combination of Lean and Six-Sigma) in a hospital setting is not about fixing problem employees who fail to improve their work. It's about fixing the broken systems and processes that hinder medical professionals from doing what they do best.

More than 650 hospitals have pledged to adopt the Leapfrog Group's policy on "never events"—rare medical errors that should never happen to a patient.

Technologies and wireless systems has vastly improved hospital communication, putting critical information in the hands of those caring for patients immediately.

Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASC) represent an unparalleled snapshot of the evolution of healthcare delivery, experts say. The surge in growth of ASCs nationwide affords patients the opportunity for non-emergent surgical and procedural services outside the hospital structure while also yielding cost-effective benefits for managed care organizations.

As patients take more ownership of their disease management regimens, hospitals are beginning to re-evaluate their processes—clinically, administratively and culturally.

Hospitals have made strides during the past decade to increase their inpatient survival rates. This is being accomplished at the same time that inpatient acuity (the severity of illness) has been steadily increasing.

For years, surgeons and other specialists working at hospitals were at the financial mercy of administrators. While it was true that these physicians were the ultimate authority on clinical care, the decisions about equipment, more staff and other important aspects of treating patients were often out of their hands. With departments wrestling each other for precious few dollars, their requests were frequently denied.

As the concern about the long-term fiscal viability of Medicare continues to grow, so has the recognition that some of the services ordered by physicians—and subsequently billed to Medicare—might not be warranted.